Hostilities having broken out in Europe in 1803, an English squadron under an Irish commander, Captain Moore, captured in the following year some Spanish galleons laden with treasure at the mouth of the River Plate.  In June, 1806, Major General William Carr Beresford with a British squadron cast anchor about twelve miles from Buenos Ayres, and with a force of only 1635 men took possession of that city of 60,000 inhabitants.  The indignation which such a humiliation at first caused among the people was in large measure calmed by the manifesto which the conquering commander issued on the occasion.  In the Memoirs of General Belgrano we read:  “It grieved me to see my country subjugated in this manner, but I shall always admire the gallantry of the brave and honorable Beresford in so daring an enterprise.”  Beresford was, however, unable to hold his ground, for the Spaniards got together an army of 10,000 men, and re-took the city.  Beresford was made prisoner, but after five months’ detention he and his brother-officers, among whom was another Irishman, Major Fahy, managed to escape.  Thus ended the expedition of this brave general, who nevertheless had covered himself and his little army with glory, for he held Buenos Ayres as a British colony for 45 days, and had he been properly supported from home the result would in all probability have been vastly different.

General Beresford was one of the most distinguished men of his time.  He was the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Waterford, entered the army at 16, and served in every quarter of the globe.  After his defeat at Buenos Ayres he captured Madeira, and was made governor of that island.  In 1808 he successfully covered the retreat of Sir John Moore to Corunna, a difficult feat, for which he received a marshal’s baton, and was made commander-in-chief in Portugal.  In 1811 he defeated Marshal Soult at Albuera, and subsequently took part in the victories of Salamanca and Vittoria.  For these services he was made Duke of Elvas, and the British government conferred on him in 1814 the title of Baron Beresford of Albuera and Dungannon.  The same year he was sent as minister to Brazil, and on his return was created viscount.  He married the widow of Thomas Hope the banker, and settled down on his estates in Kent, where he died in 1854.

The brilliancy of Beresford’s achievement in capturing Buenos Ayres with a handful of men had dazzled the minds of English statesmen, who felt that 10,000 British troops were enough to subdue the whole of the vast continent of South America.  In May, 1807, an expedition comprising several frigates and transports with 5,000 troops appeared off Montevideo from England.  A month later Lieutenant-General Whitelock arrived with orders to assume the chief command, and among his officers were the gallant Irishmen, Major Vandeleur, who commanded a wing of the 88th Regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Nugent, of the 38th.  Whitelock endeavored, but failed, to retake Buenos Ayres.  During the siege a small detachment of Spanish troops under Colonel James Butler, after a terrific conflict, in which they sold their lives dearly, were all killed.  Agreeably to Colonel Butler’s request his remains were buried on the spot he had so valiantly defended, and his tombstone was visible there until 1818.